The Marketing Money Talk: How to Budget Your Indie Game's Promotion Campaign

Business-focused summary: budgeting an indie game promotion campaign (PC/console)

Core principles / context

• Budgeting is “how long is a piece of string” because outcomes depend heavily on:
  • the specific game,
  • timing,
  • platform dynamics, and
  • where you are in the lifecycle (e.g., first commercial game vs. repeat releases).
• Indie studios should avoid overspending and be ready to shift budget mid-cycle when opportunities appear (e.g., TikTok trends, timing windows, store/platform deals).
• Marketing is a multiplier, not a guarantee:
  • If the game resonates: marketing amplifies growth sharply.
  • If it doesn’t: marketing still helps visibility, but returns are weaker.

Who this approach is for

• Designed for premium indie games for PC/console (roughly $5–$20 price point).
• Not aimed at:
  • Large publishers (they spread spend across many titles and “see what sticks”).
  • Free-to-play/mobile (ad-heavy economics and different promotion mechanics).

---

Framework: “Budgeting hierarchy” (Top 10 spend in descending ROI)

The intended playbook: create a ranked list of where money goes from highest expected ROI downward, using deadlines and platform-feature windows as constraints.

Top 10 items (ranked)

1. First-party support (platform featuring + store featuring)

   • Examples: PlayStation featured areas, Nintendo/Xbox social support, Steam features (e.g., “Popular upcoming”).
   • Hard to buy directly; often requires outreach to platform holders or publisher/agent help.
   • Guidance: treat it as potentially high upside, but ensure you cover it—don’t “tweet but never email”; do outreach early enough.

2. Steam / console store page (store assets)

   • Most customers encounter games via online stores.
   • Recommended elements to fund:
     • Key art / capsule art (often freelancer/agency ranges; example: $500–$5,000)
     • Trailer(s) (typical ranges):
       • DIY: $500–$1,000
       • simple trailer (some scripting/capture): $5,000–$10,000
       • premium editor/experience trailers: $5,000–$10,000
       • agency/pro with actors/more production: $10,000–$50,000+
     • How many trailers? Usually 1–3 for smaller games (common: announcement, release date, launch/gameplay slot).
       • Very large catalogs can reach 5–6+, which was described as “silly territory.”
     • Screenshots (usually in-house or via trailer/marketing support; not typically a direct line-item purchase)
     • Store description (in-house or freelancer ranges roughly $500–a few $1,000s)
     • Localization of store pages (high priority; especially for China)
       • Example translation agency cost: $0.06–$0.21 per word
       • Example target: 8–10 languages for premium indies

3. Ongoing marketing planning support

   • Hire/consult to set goals and avoid missing event deadlines.
   • Options: internal marketing planning, marketing hire, agency retainer (example: low thousands to $10k+), or expert consulting.

4. Attending online events / showcases

   • Strong reach; often yields Steam features and social amplification.
   • Costs vary by size and fit:
     • low hundreds to $2k–$10k (typical mid tiers)
     • large events: $50k–$300k+
   • Cadence: roughly 3–4 events/year for regular participation. More can cause burnout due to asset requirements.

5. Social media management (community + content operations)

   • Described as having a higher “ceiling” than some other line items (more flexibility in quantity/frequency).
   • Staffing costs mentioned:
     • salary band: roughly $30k–$125k+ (region/seniority dependent)
     • freelancer rates: roughly $20–$100/hour
   • Recommendation: at least part-time for indie.
   • Note: “social media manager” is an umbrella (content/video, filming time, community management, customer support, etc.).

6. Organic influencer outreach

   • Send codes/keys; aim for non-paid visibility (free coverage), though results vary.
   • Typical outreach budgeting: $2k–$5k per outreach (example: 1–3 outreaches such as launch + Steam Fest + preview/demo window).

7. Organic press outreach (PR beats)

   • Still valuable even if direct impact feels reduced.
   • Secondary benefits include Google indexing, store-page credibility, and “headline ecosystem” effects.
   • Typical PR cost per beat (example ranges):
     • $1k–$5k (indie sector)
     • can reach $10k with localization, bigger scope, complex code management, or multi-platform.
   • Recommended beats:
     • at least 3: announcement, release, launch
     • typically 3–5 for most games; 6–7 for larger campaigns

8. Attending big in-person events (if budget remains)

   • Examples: GDC, etc.
   • Strong recommendation for local events for networking.
   • Don’t attend “for the sake of it” without a networking/pipeline reason.

9. Paid influencer / paid social amplification

   • High risk of overspend; “case by case.”
   • Example ranges mentioned:
     • YouTube-like:
       • under-$500k views might be $600–$12,000
     • Twitch:
       • smaller channels (<1M subs) for a ~2-hour stream: $600–$6,000
   • “Cost per view” heuristics:
     • around 2–4 cents per view is good
     • around ~7 cents still acceptable
     • higher requires special targeting or niche justification
   • Paid social can outperform organic once a channel is proven, but tracking ROI can be difficult.

10. Remaining “other” ideas (lower tier)

    • Examples: physical press kits, making-of videos, niche stunts.
    • Presenter stance: can work, but generally not top ROI by default.

---

Key budgeting rules / processes (actionable)

• Avoid rigid fixed spend without flexibility
  • Plan, then remain flexible to reallocate when the market shifts (e.g., TikTok trend emergence led to reallocating resources and delaying the release due to technical issues; a timing window enabled a game pass deal).
• Treat platform/store deadlines as non-negotiable
  • Missing online event deadlines forfeits the opportunity.
• Plan asset production backward from deadlines
  • Trailers/screenshots must be ready for events and for store/press needs.
• Use a “prove-then-scale” mindset for paid social
  • Test first; then boost/double down on what trends.
  • Example: good TikTok results when already posting a lot (e.g., ~50 posts), then boosting the trending ones.

---

Metrics / KPIs mentioned (measurement approach)

• Direct performance measurement is imperfect, but KPIs to watch:
  • Social follower growth
  • Wishlists
  • Pre-orders
• Attribution/tracking:
  • UTM/tracking links (e.g., TikTok) may not reliably map to wishlists/installs because audiences browse across multiple platforms and tracking links aren’t always effective.
  • Closest practical method: correlate marketing actions with metric movement, guided by experience (“gut feeling” supported by observed changes across multiple launches).
• The framing emphasizes “number goes up” rather than precise attribution.

---

Concrete examples / case observations included

• X one (game published by the presenter’s company)
  • A TikTok game trend unlocked millions of views.
  • The team shifted promotional resources mid-cycle.
  • A later game pass deal occurred after delays caused by technical difficulties.
• Store/PR secondary value example
  • “Eye of the Temple” was used to illustrate Google results showing many relevant press headlines and increasing ecosystem visibility.
• Budget allocation examples for assets
  • Trailer tiers ranging from DIY (~$500–$1,000) to agency/actor/mixed reality (~$10,000–$50,000+).
• Event entry heuristic
  • Getting into some shows for free can indicate the game “resonates.”
  • Being rejected—even by small paid shows—can indicate misfit.

---

High-level guidance for adjacent contexts (brief)

Reddit strategy

• Organic:
  • use a team member who knows Reddit community rules, or
  • use “Reddit Lite” (post in smaller, relevant subreddits like indie-dev communities).
• Paid Reddit ads:
  • potentially effective for certain genres (strategy/more hardcore audiences).

Paid ads: marketing channel ROI question

• Rough view offered: Reddit, TikTok, and “that matter” (likely social platforms).
• Also mentioned: Facebook/Instagram can work well.
• Instagram Stories suggested as having good return in some cases.

VR games

• Similar playbook, with differences:
  • fewer big PR sites,
  • Reddit is more important due to VR community enthusiasm,
  • campaigns can be shorter (wishlist momentum matters less),
  • influencer/organic outreach remains relevant.

Developer ownership of social accounts

• If shipping multiple games in the same niche (e.g., narrative or racing):
  • prefer a studio account rather than separate per-game accounts.
• For smaller games:
  • keep accounts more personal,
  • rebrand studio/game names by swapping identities as new games ship.

---

Presenter / sources mentioned

Presenter

• Thomas Reser, co-founder of Future Friends Games.

Company/source references mentioned in talk

• Online survey with ~30 respondents (no further identifiers).
• Suggested resources/books/newsletters:
  • Game Discover Co
  • How to Market the Game (newsletter/resource mentioned)
• Industry reference for salary ranges:
  • Games industry career guide

People/organizations thanked or credited (shout-outs)

• Derek Luke
• Guilty
• ICO partners
• player two PR
• pop agenda
• Rukun Rocker
• play super media
• MJ (from Yours Truly)